An earthquake that measured 5.5 on the Richter scale according to the Israel Geological Survey (other sources say 5.1 or 5.2), with its epicenter in the northern Sinai, 90 kilometers south of Eilat, sent slight tremors through Israel on Saturday around 6:34 PM.

No damage was reported. The quake occurred on the East African rift.

Ben-Gurion airport shut down for the duration of the tremors.

Residents in Ashkelon said their furniture shook. Yediot Acharonot reported that cows in the Arava, north of Eilat, apparently sensed the earthquake was on its way and started mooing several minutes before the tremors were felt.

In Egypt, the earthquake shook buildings in Cairo, more than 200 miles away from the epicenter in the Sinai.

Tremors caused dust storms nears the Red Sea, and strong winds whipped sand through the air in Cairo, forcing people to remain indoors.

Search and rescue teams are still hunting for 22-year-old Or Ashraf of Lehavim, the sole Israeli still unaccounted for in Nepal after last week’s devastating earthquakes.

Ashraf’s mother Orit met a state-funded El Al flight carrying 229 stranded Israelis from Nepal landed Tuesday afternoon in Israel at Ben Gurion International Airport, hoping to see her son or someone who had information about him. Among the rescued trekkers on that flight were 15 babies, including three premies.

The death toll in Nepal following the quakes and hundreds of aftershocks has risen to more than 5,000, a Nepalese home ministry official said Wednesday. It is believed the figure could reach as high as 10,000 by the time search and rescue teams complete their work, said Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.

Ashraf, 22, had recently been discharged from the IDF. He was last heard from by his parents a week before the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the region. He is believed to have been hiking in the Langtang region when the quake hit, but it is not clear whether he was alone or with others. Just before setting out on his hike, he told a friend in Langtang – Guy Yitzhak – that he might go alone.

So far, some 25 Israelis have already been rescued from the Langtang nature reserve, with another 30 waiting to be picked up some time on Wednesday.

There is a sense of urgency regarding those Israelis still awaiting rescue teams in remote areas and on mountain tops. There have been reports of violence against some Israelis and the helicopter teams by Nepalese in the mountains.

Approximately 70 Israelis have chosen to stay on in the country to help with rescue efforts, according to media reports. Forty others have been located but not yet reached due to their remote locations.

The first contingent of Israelis are to arrive home Monday after being rescued from the heights of the Himalayas in Nepal after a deadly earthquake tore apart the region.

The Israeli Air Force plane is also carrying three newbies, premature babies born amidst the temblors. It’s expected to arrive at 1:00 a.m. Monday.

The IDF general staff said Sunday that its rescue mission to Nepal was delayed by 12 hours due to the condition of the landing strip at Kathmandu.

Although the mission was originally set to depart from Israel at 10:00 pm local time, it was not clear whether the IAF would stick to the schedule> The IDF also said a great deal of discussion was taking place over which type of planes could be used given current conditions on the ground.

The Israeli Embassy in Kathmandu was also slightly damaged due to the earthquakes. The first, a 7.9-magnitude quake, did the most damage to the area. But that was followed within just a few hours by an aftershock that was nearly as devastating, registering at 6.7-magnitude on the Richter scale.

Both caused damage – and fatalities – as far away as India and China. In Nepal, the death toll thus far has risen to nearly 2,500 and almost twice as many injured.

More than four hundred Israelis were known to be traveling near Kathmandu at the time of the quakes. Most have been tracked down or checked in on their own, but 150 Israelis are still out of touch with their families and authorities.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry is coordinating its efforts with the Kathmandu Chabad House, where volunteers have transformed the building into a local crisis management and refugee center for the time being.

Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz and his wife Chani are urging Israelis throughout Nepal via their Facebook pages and other social media not to sleep indoors tonight (Sunday, April 26, 2015), saying the area is still unstable, and that doing so would be “unsafe.”

Chani Lifshitz, co-emissary at the Kathmandu Chabad House, spoke (in Hebrew) Saturday night after the Sabbath in a video message from Nepal, providing details of the growing crisis following two massive earthquakes, the first a 7.9-magnitude temblor that struck during Sabbath morning prayers. The second came as an aftershock, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake that was nearly as bad.

Thus far, nearly 2,500 people have died in the two earthquakes and the avalanches that resulted in Nepal — and as far away as India and China.

“The buildings in Nepal shook, the wind was blowing buildings like paper in the air. Houses are unsafe and the electricity is out,” Chani’s husband, Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz told Lubavitch.com. The Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to the country and his wife have become coordinators of a massive refugee/crisis center. “The sight is horrific —- many are walking around with open wounds,” Lifshitz told the website.

Meanwhile, his wife has maintained updates with the “outside” world and tried to keep up the spirits of Israeli families whose loved ones are still missing.

Lifshitz said volunteers at the Chabad House are trying to coordinate “all the Israelis who are here – there are several hundred of them” – including “a few who are injured.”

She said, “We are trying very hard to calm them down, many of them are sitting down in places outside the Chabad House, and inside are those who are injured. But outside it’s pretty safe, and we are still pulling together the lists of who has been found so far and who is still missing. We are trying to work as fast as we can to get to everyone, but even as we speak, the situation is still not entirely stable, and things have yet to settle down.

With a smile she added, “We hope to be able to report to you only good things. Up to this point, we are talking about several people with injuries who are on couches here in the Chabad house

Again, the main work at this point is to coordinate all the names of people who are in Kathmandu and those who are in the mountains, and with God’s help we will get to everyone.”

Dozens of Israelis are camping out in the courtyards around the Chabad House, the emissaries said in a post on their Facebook page. “We are trying to provide everyone with sleeping bags and blankets so they can stay warm at night,” the wrote. “We are asking all Israelis currently in Nepal not to sleep indoors tonight because we are still experiencing aftershocks and the buildings are not safe at this time.”

A special “Israeli Situation Room” has been set up on Facebook for families and friends of Israelis who are in Nepal and may have been caught in the earthquake and are still missing.

Although the page is in Hebrew, one can translate it into English on the Google Chrome browser by using the Translate function under Tools on the pull-down menu on the browser.

Another Facebook page has been set up — also in Hebrew — to provide real-time updates on people looking for and finding those still missing. For those involved in search and rescue efforts or who want to be in touch with those who are, click here.

Several Israelis suffered minor injuries in Saturday’s devastating earthquake in Nepal that killed approximately 1,500 people, but approximately 250 Israelis are not accounted for, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Communications systems have been disabled by the earthquake, which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale and is the latest in a series of disasters that have hit the country but so far have not deterred Israeli hikers from hiking there,

Israel sent rescue and medical teams to Nepal Saturday night.

The Foreign Ministry is preparing to evacuate Israelis, including families with surrogate babies.

The earthquake caused minor damage to the Israeli embassy building in Kathmandu.